Freshman Dem Senators Quickly Join Keystone XL Pipeline Push

(The Hill)

Two freshman Senate Democrats have jumped into the fight over the Keystone XL oil pipeline, joining seven other Democrats and dozens of Republicans in pressuring President Obama to approve the project.

Freshman Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) both backed the proposed pipeline well before they arrived in the Senate.

But their signatures on a letter, just days into their Senate tenure, from 53 senators calling for Obama to quickly approve Keystone signals that the red-state lawmakers won’t hesitate to stake out positions at odds with more liberal members of their caucus.

Heitkamp accused the Obama administration of dragging its feet on Keystone as she joined more than half the Senate on the new letter calling for approval.